Enix v. Diamond T. Sales & Service Co.

188 So. 2d 48
CourtDistrict Court of Appeal of Florida
DecidedJune 15, 1966
Docket5771
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 188 So. 2d 48 (Enix v. Diamond T. Sales & Service Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court of Appeal of Florida primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Enix v. Diamond T. Sales & Service Co., 188 So. 2d 48 (Fla. Ct. App. 1966).

Opinion

188 So.2d 48 (1966)

Charles A. ENIX, Appellant,
v.
DIAMOND T. SALES & SERVICE CO., a Florida Corporation, Appellee.

No. 5771.

District Court of Appeal of Florida. Second District.

June 15, 1966.
Rehearing Denied July 18, 1966.

*49 P.B. Howell, Jr., Leesburg, for appellant.

Walter Warren, Leesburg, for appellee.

PIERCE, Judge.

This case involves the question of express and implied warranties in the sale of second hand personal property.

On October 21, 1963, Diamond T. Sales & Service Co., a Florida corporation, sold to Charles A. Enix a used 1961 Diamond T tractor for $12,652.50, taking as part payment therefor a used 1958 Mack truck-tractor at an agreed trade-in value of $3,500.00, which cash difference of $9,152.50, together with $2,005.70 premium on insurance coverage, a finance charge of $1,676.85, and documentary stamp purchase of $19.35, left a total net balance due from Enix to Diamond T of $12,854.40, even after the Mack Truck had changed hands. This amount of $12,854.40 was to be paid off by Enix to Diamond T in thirty monthly installments of $428.48, beginning December 4, 1963. The deal was evidenced by a written contract of sale, which contained no express written warranty of condition, fitness, quality, etc., of the Diamond T tractor.

Upon taking over possession, Enix was immediately dissatisfied with his purchase because allegedly it was not in the condition or quality as had been represented. Numerous efforts were made during the ensuing few weeks by Enix to get the truck-tractor repaired by Diamond T or otherwise to put it in working condition, but his efforts were not successful. Enix did not make the first two monthly payments on the contract, whereupon Diamond T, on January 31, 1964, filed replevin proceedings in the Lake County Circuit Court and re-took possession of the Diamond T tractor.

Enix filed answer, the gist of which was that Diamond T at the time of the purchase had "represented and warranted" to Enix that the vehicle was in good operating condition and would fulfill Enix's needs; that Diamond T had full knowledge that Enix depended upon said tractor as his sole source of livelihood in his business of long-distance hauling; that it was necessary for said tractor to be in workable operating condition at all times for such use; that after taking possession of the tractor, Enix soon discovered that it was not as had been represented to him by Diamond T; that specifically the front end needed a complete overhaul and the gear box was defective; that because of several mechanical defects the consumption of oil was unreasonably great; that the cab was loose on its frame; and that the torsion bars or radius rods on the tandem were worn out and impossible to keep aligned. Enix further alleged in his answer that on October 26, 1963 (5 days after the deal was closed), he took the tractor to a repair shop in Leesburg, Florida, at his own expense in an attempt to have the front wheels aligned and balanced and brake shoes and linings installed; that between October 21, 1964 and January 20, 1964 he took said tractor to Diamond T's shop at Orlando on at least six different occasions so that Diamond T could put the vehicle in good repair as it had "promised and warranted" to do, to no avail; that because of the defective operating condition of the tractor and the time and expense consumed in the attempted repairs Enix had been prevented from making at least 7 long distance hauling trips he otherwise would have made, thus rendering it financially impossible for him to make the initial monthly payments under the purchase contract. Enix also filed counterclaim based generally upon the foregoing facts, asking damages in "excess of $10,000.00." Diamond *50 T answered the counterclaim, denying the material averments thereof, denying that any express warranty was given to Enix "in connection with his purchase of said truck-tractor," and alleging that "under the law of the State of Florida an oral warranty as to the condition of second hand machinery is invalid."

Thereafter, at a pre-trial conference, and without any further proceedings of record, the Circuit Judge entered his "FINAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT," which, because its content is of significance in the disposition of this appeal, is set forth as follows:

"FINAL SUMMARY JUDGMENT
"This cause having come on at pre-trial conference on August 18, 1964, before the Court and defendant appearing by his attorney, P.B. Howell, Jr., and plaintiff appearing by its attorney, Walter Warren, and the Court having read the pleadings on file in said cause, having heard the arguments of respective counsel, and being advised in the premises, and the Court finding nothing to contradict that the subject matter involved herein is second hand machinery, and that the law is that there is no implied warranty on second hand articles (McDonald v. Sanders, 103 Fla. 93, 137 So. 122 (1931).
"It is hereby ORDERED, CONSIDERED and ADJUDGED that plaintiff have and plaintiff is hereby given judgment for the possession of a certain used 1961 Diamond T Tractor, Model No. 931 CNT, Serial No. 931 CNT-0346, Motor No. NTO-6B-288790 and for costs in the amount of $144.50."

The Court had nothing before it except the formal statutory replevin papers, the answer and counterclaim aforesaid of Enix, and the answer to said counterclaim; together with the original purchase contract, and a letter written from Diamond T to Enix dated January 24, 1964, which somehow found their way to become a part of the lower Court's rather weird record and proceedings.

We think the able Circuit Judge was in error, both in his ruling on the merits and in the procedure followed in reaching it, fatal as to the former, not necessarily as to the latter.

The basic premise upon which the Summary Judgment was entered, namely, that there was no warranty on the used Diamond T tractor, is not borne out by the record, and also the conclusion of law arrived at by the Circuit Judge, "that there is no implied warranty on second hand articles" is likewise unwarranted, even under the case cited.

Taking these matters in reverse order, the case of McDonald v. Sanders, 103 Fla. 93, 137 So. 122, is not binding authority for the legal proposition mentioned. In the McDonald case the article involved was a second hand steam shovel and there were both verbal and written warranties that such machine was in "good workable condition." In that case, as here, the seller McDonald had brought suit to recover the past-due deferred payments upon the steam shovel, and the purchaser Sanders had defended upon an alleged breach of warranty as to the operating condition and good repair of the machine in question. The defendant purchaser prevailed in the Circuit Court, and the Supreme Court in affirming used the following language (text 137 So. 125):

"The testimony is undisputed as to the condition of the machine after it was unloaded, and while moving it to the quarry.
"While it is true that
"`As a general rule a contemporaneous oral warranty cannot be ingrafted on a written contract or bill of sale which on its face purports to evidence the entire agreement of the parties, irrespective of whether it is silent on the matter of warranties or not.' 23 R.C.L. 1399, § 224, — yet in the instant case the contract *51 for the purchase of the machine contained the provision that it was `in good working condition,' which made any testimony relative to its `good workable condition' admissible and relevant.

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Bluebook (online)
188 So. 2d 48, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/enix-v-diamond-t-sales-service-co-fladistctapp-1966.